Central Station commuters bear brunt of disruptions from metro line construction

By Matt O'Sullivan and Jacob Saulwick

UpdatedMay 11, 2016 — 3.25pmfirst published at 12.38pm

Commuters using Central Station – the state's busiest – will face the greatest disruption from the construction starting next year of a $12.5 billion metro train line under Sydney's CBD.

The new line – the first under central Sydney since the construction of the Eastern Suburbs line in the 1970s – is expected to significantly reduce crowding for commuters using existing stations such as Wynyard and Town Hall when it opens in 2024.

But analysis released on Wednesday for the project also details the disruption during the construction of the metro line.

It shows the closure of platforms 13, 14 and 15 – serving the south coast and Central Coast – for construction of the new line is likely to require changes to the timetable for suburban and country trains.

Tracks used by Sydney Trains and NSW Trains are also likely to be needed for an extended period of time, which will require "alternative bus services" to be put on for commuters.

The so-called track possessions at Central will be needed to allow for construction of a temporary pedestrian overbridge and changes around platforms.

However, Transport Minister Andrew Constance described the construction as akin to "keyhole surgery" and said it would be less disruptive than work on Sydney's $2.1 billion light rail line.

"It's a project which is largely underground, causing minimal disruption, but it is going to obviously be a tough build," he said.

"I can assure you, after the experience with light rail, we can do anything."

The government has put a price tag of between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion on the second stage of the metro project. It is higher than the preliminary costing released two years ago of between $9.5 billion and $11 billion because, the government said, new stations at Crows Nest, Barangaroo and Waterloo had been added to the plan.

"There is additional cost that comes as part of that but I think that is the right thing for the city, right thing for the project," Premier Mike Baird said.

Mr Baird said more than 6000 people would be working on the project at the peak of construction, which would be "an absolute boost to the local economy".

The final cost of stage two would be released in a business case due shortly.

"We have an upper and lower limit ... and we will be landing somewhere between them," Mr Constance said.

Labor's transport spokeswoman, Jodi McKay, said the government needed to guarantee that the cost of the project did not blow out beyond the existing price tag.

"This is heading in the same direction as WestConnex [the motorway project in Sydney, which is now costing $16.8 billion]," she said.

Work on the metro line will overlap for two years with the construction of the light rail line along George Street in the CBD to Randwick and Kensington. The latter is due for completion in 2019.